Relationships Not Activity

The last couple of days I feel like I have been gathering "notes" from heaven in my preparation for the trip in February. 

When  I first went to Honduras the only communication I had with my friends there was via notes sent back and forth when teams would go down.  But thanks to technology, and a wonderful thing called Facebook we are able to stay in touch more frequently.  Over the weekend I received a thank you message from one of the ladies that works at the hogar; for a Christmas gift I sent.  As we were talking back and forth I mentioned to her that myself and a few other ladies were going to be coming down in February.  I explained a little bit about what we wanted to do while we were there and to pray for us.  I also asked her to be in thought about what some of the needs of the ladies are in Taulabe.  This is what her response to me was:

"That good that can come, women are naturally more sensitive as God says in his word are fragile vessels will be praying for God to do great things through you her."

Then today during the service one of our elders Walt Childs spoke about Martha and Mary.  I felt like many of the things that he said apply to our preparations.  In the next few weeks we will be meeting to try and determine how we want to minister to the ladies of Talaube. I want to keep in mind not to let the activity get in the way of the relationship.  That is what Jesus  relayed to Martha ...to sit and enjoy not to be so busy.  Ever since I started going to Honduras some of my greatest times have been just sitting on the porch with the girls, washing dishes along side them & one trip, raking leaves with the tias.  Coming along side them and building a relationship...showing the love of Christ, like he loves me.  I know we can plan and strategize about what we want to do there but many times what we plan doesn't come to fruition....God has a greater plan than ours.  My prayer is that we will follow that plan and not ours.

  

A plan in the making

When I originally found out that I was going to be returning to Honduras it was believed that it would be myself and my dear friend Debbi - along with three gentlemen.  We had thought that we would go and minister to the ladies while the gentlemen ministered in other ways. 

It is so exciting to see God begin to formulate our team....appointing who he wants to go.  As I write this two other ladies have joined the team.  They are wonderful ladies who I adore and have a real heart for serving other women.  It is going to be us and Pastor Jeem ...(please begin to pray for him now)  ;-)

We have 7 weeks until we leave. I am so excited to see what will be next.  After the holidays we will need to meet to pray, talk, and brainstorm about how we can minister to the ladies.  

He is so amazing!

Tina (the cook at the hogar) is show Kathy some of her tricks

 

 

Co-Laborers for the Kingdom

As is often the case when we are involved with something for a long time we forget the history, the why's and the how-comes.

I was in a meeting today (for the upcoming trip) when my memory was refreshed on how Honduras Fountain of Life began co-laboring for the kingdom with Funete de Vida Ministries, in Taulabe Honduras. I thought I would share some those factoids with you.  Hopefully it will help you understand a bit about what is going on there and why I believe in what is being done.

Pastor Jim Pearce who is the director of Honduras Fountain of Life, met Pastor Yobani 20 years ago when he was visiting Hendersonville and taught at the First Baptist Church there.

Pastor Yobani Alas started the Fuente de Vida church in 1993.  He had been impacted by the faith of Andre van den berg, and set out to follow in Andre's footsteps in sharing Christ and starting churches.  Over the years he has started over 50 churches in different parts of Honduras.  

 

In 1998 Pastor Jim was sent to Honduras by Grace Community Church to help care for those that had been devastated by Hurricane Mitch.

In 2002 FdV started the school, which now has 300 children that would otherwise not get an education, especially from a Christ centered focus. A church  from Memphis, donated the land and started helping with the school and faithfully did that for the first 9 years.  

 

In 2011 Honduras Fountain of Life stepped to help with the schools operation, miraculously a gift was given  almost $50,000. We do not know if the funds will be available to reopen the school in February (the beginning of their new school year) but Pastor Yobani constantly reminds us to have faith, that the Lord will provide.

9 years ago Compassion, International came to them and asked if they would take 50 of the poorest children and teach them.  Compassion has a 40 year + track record of caring for poor children. They teach them vocational skills, teach them the scripture, feed them and give them medical attention. Nine years later they have 220 Compassion Children that attend the Fuente de Vida school.

 

In 2004 Grace Community Church sent the first team to Taulabe, since then over 300 people have gone and served.  Building relationships and sharing God's love. "Helping Hondurans help Hondurans" has often been the motto.

 

2009 the permanent home the Fuente de Vida Home for Girls was built.  It is the home for 25 girls that have withstood  deplorable living conditions, abuse and some near to death from starvation.  

 

2012 a devastating fire swept through the largest prison in Honduras.  Pastor Yobani was there to support the families of over 300 prisoners that perished in fire.  Through his vision and compassion HFOL is now collecting toiletries that are distributed to the prisoners.  He also preaches there once a week.  

 

These are just some of the points that come to my mind.  God is working mightily through FdV church and it is a blessing to serve along side them as they reach out to those that are in desperate need.

Pastor Yobani Alas & Pastor Jim Pearce sharing God's word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to Honduras do da...do da!

Journal Entry 11/25/12

As I  write this I still do not know the answer as to whether or not I will be able to take off time in February for this trip-but I am going to write this letter anyway-stepping out in faith that the answer will be YES.  

Well, today I was approved for my time off so now the planning begins for my next visit to my second home.  I leave February 1 & will return February 7.  I would like to share the letter I composed on the 25th.  It will help to explain how I have come to this point. 

Dear  Family and Friends,

Many of you may have noticed that my talk of Honduras hasn't been as frequent in the last few months.  In August my three year term on the Honduras Fountain of Life board was up.  I chose to step down instead of upping for another three years.  I needed time away to rest my heart.  Part of my gifts are compassion & a tender heart, which are great gifts to have, but I tend to take on the hurt, the heaviness, sadness etc. of those that I love.  As much as God is present in Honduras so is the evil one. He causes great havoc and chaos there . What he would love to see more than anything is for God's work to be destroyed-not only in Honduras but everywhere. And he does not rest.  So in August I took what some may call a sabbatical from the Honduras ministry.  Honestly in my heart I didn't know low long it would last & I didn't know when (if ever) I would return to Honduras. 

My thinking at times -as I struggled to decide if I should continue to serve on the board or step way- was 'God has plenty that can serve there, they pray better, they are wiser about making decisions that involve the ministry, etc.' So,  I gave myself permission to step away.  

During this time I have become involved in the women's ministry at Grace, I became a Grammy, & I have also been drawing closer to God. 

A few weeks ago I felt a little spark in my heart & a small voice that said "look into the trip schedule for the 2013 trips".  I did & promptly forgot about it.  Then last week I was approached by one of my fellow 'Hondurans' about going in February.  I am not sure what happened between the spark & the fire but I am now once again on fire for Honduras.  

As I started to pray about this trip I heard that small voice again, reminding me how I had justified to myself why I wasn't needed in Honduras & how others could do it.  "Yes there are people who might pray better & their are those that are wiser about the decisions to be made but I want you to go!  There are girls there there who love you and others that need to be loved-just as I love you."

So here I am...once again preparing to return to my Second Home.  This will be a different trip (they all are) it appears that the team will be very small possibly 5-6 of us.  Debbi  Rayl and I are planning to minister to the tias & other ladies in the church.  That is "our" plan.  We will see what God's plan is.   Please pray for me.  I can not do anything without them...without God's direction.  I would also ask that you consider  supporting me monetarily.  

Stay tuned....it's just begun!  

     
 
 

Funte de Vida School

I have not updated my blog in almost a year but just because I haven't written here doesn't mean that life has stopped there.  The girls are doing well at the hogar (home for girls) they recently several graduate from 6th grade.  (this is a big deal there) Statistics are that the average Honduran will not complete the minor grades.  

Honduras Fountain of life is now partnering with Fuente de Vida in operation of the school,  located on the Fuente  de Vida the campus  http://www.hondurasfountainoflife.org/eSchools  Not only does the school serve the children in the Taulabe area but it also includes children served by Compassion International.  http://www.hondurasfountainoflife.org/dCompassionProjects  They receive a meal & education (many would go hungry without)  These are the poorest children in the area.  Unless God provides $50,000.00 by February the school will have to shut down. 

Giggles That Last a Lifetime!

12/28/11

Shadow of Iris taking pictures of the chickens

After our "kick start" I saw the little girls playing on the porch of the hogar so I went to investigate.  They were playing with  the dolls they had received for Christmas, coloring books, balloons etc. and they were sitting on the ping pong table.  I great play place.  They were excited to see me coming and quickly invited me to join them in  coloring. Ludis instructed me what to color & what colors to use.  We had some interesting pictures when we finished. Love those pictures of Mickey Mouse with purple ears!  Iris, who is 8, took my camera and started taking pics of us, the rabbits in the hutch, the landscape, just everything!  I can still hear Dahlia giggling!  She would blow up balloons and pop them making me scream!

When folks ask me what I do in Honduras I often say "play" and that is really what we do a lot of.  Play, love the girls & boy do they know how to love in return.  It is all about building relationship and showing the love of Christ.  Even if that means  coloring and playing with dolls. 

Dahlia with my glasses on

Muddy feet and motivation

As we were leaving the hogar...in the big yellow school bus (there were about about 45 of us on the bus) we got stuck in the mud!  It was almost like something unspoken Jim opened the bus door and people started filing off...I'm sitting close to the back of the bus with the tias, we kept our seats.  The ones that exited the bus were actually going to try and push the bus out of the mud!  Jim slowly accelerated....they would push the bus and a rocking motion started on the inside of the bus!  As the bus would inch forward we would rock forward and the girls would scream!!!  The ingenuity of those on the outside won out as they started scurrying to find sticks to place under the tire of the bus. In no time we were out of the mud and on our way to the pool.  

Foot washing. Photo by Moriah Watson

On the way to the pool we stopped to pick up Ilene, she is a friend of the girls at the hogar & her father Louis drives the bus for us.  He also has a business washing the semi trucks in the area.  While we were waiting for Ilene Jim announced that those who wanted to wash their feet could do so there.  For a split second I thought he was saying that we were going to have a good old fashion foot washing!  

I love the ingenuity of the Hondurans.  As Americans we are often spoiled with the conveniences that  we have.  When we arrived at the pool I noticed that the tias had brought a pinata ...how fun is THAT?  However, I turned to Lance and said "how are they going to hang it?  They didn't bring a string OR a stick!"  He looked and me with a huge smile and said "Dee you are in Honduras".....!  I had to chuckle....indeed we were! 

We had to wait to get in the pool so the tias set out to hang the pinata ...sure enough...they found a rope AND a stick!  It was just like it was sitting out waiting for us.  The pinata was actually in celebration of Pastor Jim's birthday.  They had placed a banner across it that had his name on it & ironically it was dressed  just like him!  

It was so much fun watching him swing the stick  & finally break it open...and all the girls to rush forward to collect the goods. It was so sweet to see each of them walk up to him afterwards and give him some of their candy. They all love him so much.  It is truly evidence of the relationships that have been built over the years.  

New Every Morning

The mountain top to the right of the hogar...just across the river.

December 28, 2011
Entry from my journal

It is a beautiful morning.  It rained hard last night & it is crisp and clean this morning.  I have  noticed several different kinds of birds this trip.  The wren that sings such a sweet song, a pretty yellow bird similar to a finch but a little larger, some birds that sound like blue jays but are gray, the old gray crane that flies up from the river & the white cow birds that are in the field with the horse and cow.  It is a nice change from the normal grackles that are normally here...running up and down the roof making lots of noise!  I am sitting on the front porch with my dear friend, whose heart I know is breaking.  I am praying that God will make their heart fresh and new like the morning.

I truly enjoyed the mornings on this trip.    After everyone had their breakfast "Pastor Jeeeeem"  would have our Jump Start for the day.  One of the team members called it "Kick Start"  and that really was what it became.  God did so much around that table in the mornings.  Hearts were opened, prayer request were made & it was so obvious that God was there.  Jim had spoken the previous day about having a relationship with God and what that looked like.  Below is how I ended the above journal entry.

 Dear Lord, I want to have a true relationship with you.  I know you, I love you, but I am not sure that I have a relationship with you.  I want to depend on you for my life, like I have depended on you for all my needs for this trip.  Lord draw me closer to you.

22, Because of the LORD’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for His mercies never end.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!
²⁴ I say: The LORD is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him. 

Lamentations 3:22-24  (HCSB)

 

Psalm 37 God Will Prevail

From my journal 1/27/11

I am sitting on the front porch -feeling rested & content. the birds are singing, a wren was sitting on the window singing as I made my tea. The rooster is crowing & the horse is grazing in the field outside the gates. There are two men at the school (one I believe is Manuel the guard) and they are weed eating ...it is barely 7 a.m!! I read Psalm 27, I'm not sure why that came to mind if I have seen it before or if God placed it in my mind to read...let's call it God because it is is perfect for here and for what Yobani is going through. The wicked & evil will be defeated & God WILL prevail.

These are a few of the verses that spoke to me that morning:

37 1-3 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

37:10 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

37:16-17 Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

^{37: 39-40} The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

The funny part is that after writing those verses down & looking back in my new compact bible I realized that it WAS God who led me to that passage. I hadn't ever read the passage before AND if you look back at what I wrote in my journal I thought I was reading 27 but actually it was 37! I later discovered that I had read 27 before the trip but it was 37 that God placed on my heart. I know ...confusing but it works for me!

God is in control ...He knows the desires of our hearts. He will take care of the righteous & he will prevail!! Yobani knows that...and despite the trials and false accusations he has encountered he continues to love the Lord & does not talk badly about his accusers. He has been released temporarily (on bail) but his ordeal is not over. The Saturday we were there Yobani returned to the prison where he had spent the last 3.5 months (arrested on false accusations) and preached to the 200 men there. God is using Yobani to love those that are not loveable, just like Jesus loved and forgave the thief on the cross. Please pray for Yobani and his church as God leads them to minister to the men in the prison & as he continues his legal battle. Hopefully that battle will be over soon & he will be totally free & all the charges will be dropped.

Game On

I'm not even sure what time it was when we arrived at the Mission House but what I do know is we had three hours to unpack the crates that housed the Christmas Gifts we had brought....organize them & wrap them. I was so nervous...everyone dove in though & worked well together. Todd became the 'checker' and marked the name off the list when it was wrapped, Moriah loved to wrap & dove right in...and all the others helped to get them in the right places. There was just one catch....the crate with all the gift wrap, tissue, tape, gift bags etc. and a couple of gifts were missing!!! I panicked....YIKES how could this happen? We surmised that the crate containing those items was sitting in the house where we packed, in Hendersonville.

But no fear! 24 gift bags that had been donated arrived, along with two huge bag of bows & some additional totes. We had EXACTLY enough to wrap the gifts & if we couldn't wrap them they were covered in bows! Of course it worked out....although I was surprised....God wasn't....He had it all under control. (OH...and the last day of the trip in the middle of cleaning a HUGE bag of gift wrap tape etc. from previous trips was discovered in a crate under a table! Go figure!!) There had been 'extra' gifts donated and all the perfect gifts were there to replace the ones that were missing :o)

It didn't take nearly as long as we expected to wrap everything & before I knew it we each grabbed a handful of presents and like a line of ants we headed to the hogar! We placed them around the Christmas tree that they already had decorated & the girls were obviously excited (especially the little ones) I even caught a couple of the little girls peeking in the gift bags LOL

We all ate ate.....MMmmmm.....our first Honduran meal. Shredded chicken...and all the fixins. I joked with some of the team members that they had prepared Eastern Style BBQ just for us! One of the things that I have a hard time getting used to is the girls and the staff wait for us to eat. We have to all be seated and eating before they serve themselves.

After the tables were cleared a ring of chairs was set up and the girls all took a seat...a couple of "Santas" proceeded to hand out the gifts. Each girl was allowed to take out one gift & have their photo taken....and after that I expected the chaos to begin but it didn't. As I watched they were almost embarrassed. The older girls peeked in the bags to see what was there but didn't tear it all out. The little girls did take their gifts out and they proceeded to play with each others toys. It was so amazing to me though, even looking back...they were so appreciative of the littlest things.

The tias were so excited about their gifts. One of the tias even received a sawing machine!!! She was thrilled! It was such a wonderful evening!

Even the part about me falling spread eagle with a handful of gifts....I had to make a grand entrance you know!

In the beginning

In the beginning there was bananas & pineapples!! The stop at the fruit stand has become a tradition & something I look forward to each trip. The team stops on their way from airport in San Padro Sula to the campus in Taulabe. There is something special about the fruit stand. I'm not sure if it is the first glimpse of the culture, the smell of the fresh fruit, or the care that the lady at the fruit stand gives us. I think it is a bit of all. Just like everything in Honduras the fruit is a bit sweeter & there is something familiar that the fruit stand offers for the Americans that are arriving for a week of wonder.

I enjoyed the bity bananas & pineapples every morning for breakfast mmmmm so good. This year one of our team members, Todd, planted the tops of the pineapples in the yard of the mission house. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the plants to produce fruit.

I have been back a week today & it seems like it was forever ago that I was in Honduras. It has taken me a week to 'decompress' from the trip & get back into my routine. It is hard for me to recapture the week in one entry so my hope is to continue my blog using the entries from my journal.

I do want to thank everyone for your prayers & support as I was on this trip. Each trip has been different in many ways but this trip was so special...there was a peace and contentment among the team & you could feel God everywhere. God is definitely at work in Honduras & I hope you will stay tuned to hear about it all.